Philippine Star and Rappler publishes an article by Agence France-Presse entitled (with slight variations), “Philippine Church ‘right’ despite Pope Francis’ comments”. This technique used by Agence France-Presse (AFP) is called reframing–putting a different background to a quote to make it appear opposite to its original meaning. In this way, AFP makes it appear that the bishops, because of their opposition to contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage, are not in line with the Pope Francis’s thoughts.

The Catholic Church does not fear women. Of all creatures, Mary is Full of Grace. Our model should be Mary and not babaylans and aswangs. The aswangs are the first abortionists in Filipino folk tradition, because for them pregnant women smells like delicious jackfruit, and so on the roof of the pregnant women, the aswangs would lower their tube-like tongues, pass it under the woman’s skirt, insert their tongues in the woman’s vagina, and suck the amniotic fluid. And the baby would be delivered shriveled, dead.

Sounds and looks familiar? Long before there were the Planned Parenthood abortion clinics, there was already the aswang in the Philippines. The hero in Filipino folk tradition is always the husband who will grab the aswang’s tongue and cut it off with a bolo. In the Filipino tradition, the man should defend his pregnant wife and his child. Otherwise, he is a coward: he is not a man enough–like modern men who get women pregnant and leave as if nothing happened.

Unlike the aswangs, Mary is a midwife: Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, because Elizabeth is old and she is carrying John in her womb. It was Mary who delivered John alive, who became St. John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus in the River Jordan.

Something diabolical is afoot: Catholics for Reproductive Health (C4RH) is using Mary and the Holy Rosary to promote something which is contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church. I think they found a mnemonic device: RH is Roproductive Bill, so HR is Holy Rosary. HR for RH. Sounds good, right? But alas, as the Holy Rosary and the Reproductive Health Bill are opposites that can’t be mixed, in the same way as one cannot mix water and oil.

Reproductive Health Bill is for contraception, but Mary is the Immaculate Conception. Contraceptives prevent conception; conception is the failure of contraception. Had Mary practiced contraception, we would not have Christ. The contraceptive mentality says:

“Mary, you are still young. A good life still awaits you. That child will prevent you from attaining that good life. You have a boyfriend, Joseph, an honest and just man. You are already betrothed to him. What will he say to you when he finds out that the child is not his? He will despise you and leave you. What will your parents and relatives say when they found you with child and Joseph divorced you, you will be despised by all. Worst, they will hand you over to be stoned to death, according to the law of Moses.

And even if you and your child will escape death by stoning, you will have a hard life raising that child. A Son of God? That’s a ridiculous title? No one will believe that. Surely, you don’t believe that. A prophet maybe, but not Son of God. There is no precedence in history that God became man. You are just deluding yourself that you are talking to an angel. You fast too much that you began to see things that are not there. Slap yourself in the face. Maybe that would awake you to your senses.

Catholics for RH Bill poster

But Mary said “No” to contraceptive mentality and “yes” to God. And in doing so, she undid the disobedience of Eve, who took the fruit of disobedience in her womb, believing that she would be like God who can define what is good and what is evil. Mary, said, “yes,” and the whole plan of salvation unfolded starting from her Immaculate womb:

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.

It is Mary’s openness to life that should serve as model for all women. A married woman becomes open to life if she accepts whatever child God gives her as a gift to be treasured and cared for. Because the child is so great a gift, a woman must prepare for such great responsibility, by not having intercourse outside of marriage. Chastity is the path to marriage and modesty is the guardian of chastity. As the Song of Songs says: “I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and hinds of the field, do not arouse, do not stir up love, before its own time.”

For the members of the Catholics for Reproductive Health (C4RH), if you still consider yourself Catholic, listen to what Pope Paul VI wrote in his encyclical Humanae Vitae:

Though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good,” it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it (18)—in other words, to intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order, and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general. Consequently, it is a serious error to think that a whole married life of otherwise normal relations can justify sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive and so intrinsically wrong.

We stand on a hill between the earth and sky.
Now all is still where Loyola’s colors fly.
Our course is run and the setting sun ends Ateneo’s day.
Eyes are dry at the last goodbye; this is the Ateneo way.

Down from the hill, down to the world go I;
rememb’ring still, how the bright Blue Eagles fly.
Through joys and tears, through the laughing years,
we sing our battle song:
Win or lose, it’s the school we choose;
this is the place where we belong!